ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said the government hoped to forward to the joint parliamentary committee on Wednesday three names for the post of the chief election commissioner before the Dec 5 deadline given by the Supreme Court and would not seek more time.

Addressing a news conference here on Tuesday, the minister said his priority was to achieve consensus, otherwise the government and the opposition would have to forward separate lists to the parliamentary committee, but that would be a lengthy process.

Sources said Mr Dar and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah had proposed the names of former justices Sardar Raza Khan, Tariq Pervez, Shakirullah Jan and Mian Ajmal.

They said the government side had earlier rejected the name of Justice Mian Ajmal for being special secretary during the Musharraf regime. The name of Justice Tariq Pervez, who has worked as chief justice of the Peshawar High Court and then judge of the Supreme Court and caretaker chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has been among the nominees all along.

Mr Dar said that on the prime minister’s instructions he was in contact with Syed Khurshid Shah. “We are hopeful to agree on one list on Wednesday and take three consensus nominations to the National Assembly speaker so that the parliamentary committee could have deliberations and select a CEC to meet the constitutional requi­rement by Dec 5,” he said.

Talks with PTI

Mr Dar said the government sincerely wanted resumption of talks with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, but the latter should give up what he called its egoistic stance and take back its Dec 8 strike call to demonstrate sincerity.

He said that 21 political parties had unanimously decided to engage in talks with the PTI and, therefore, it was morally binding on the government to hold consultations with these parties before resuming the dialogue. The talks could begin after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s return from the UK on Dec 6, he said.

The minister accused the people on the container of closing the doors on talks on Sept 13, while the government was clear that the dialogue process should not be ended in politics.

He said it was important for both sides to keep in mind larger national interests and make sincere efforts for the success of the talks.

The PTI, he said, had some after-thoughts about the role and mandate of the judicial commission to investigate the alleged systematic and massive election rigging. But the government is of the opinion that since the matter concerned members of the highest judiciary, it should be left to the discretion of the judicial commission.

The finance minister, who has returned from visits to the Middle East, UK and Russia, said he did not come across any foreigner who did not raise questions about the political uncertainty arising out of protests and sit-ins.

He said that despite the $1 billion Sukuk bond transaction, the political situation had a negative impact on its pricing. Credit agencies and investors viewed the worsening political environment in Pakistan as ‘credit negative’, he added.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2014